Rohit Jawa also serves as the President of Unilever South Asia.
New Delhi:
Fast-moving consumer goods major HUL on Friday announced the appointment of Rohit Jawa as managing director and chief executive officer, replacing Sanjiv Mehta, who is leaving the company after a decade at the helm.
Rohit Jawa, currently Unilever’s head of transformation, will assume the leadership role for five consecutive years starting June 27, 2023, the company said in a statement.
“The appointment of Rohit Jawa as whole-time director and MD and CEO is subject to shareholders’ approval and other statutory approvals,” it added.
Rohit Jawa will join the HUL Board as a Whole Time Director with effect from April 1, 2023.
Apart from the Indian market, he also serves as the President of Unilever South Asia.
He will join Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE) from April 1, 2023. After 10 years of transformational leadership at HUL, Sanjiv Mehta retires from the company.
Rohit Jawa is currently Head of Transformation at Unilever in London, where he has successfully orchestrated the once-in-a-decade Unilever Transformation since January 2022.
He started his career with HUL in 1988 as a management trainee and has a proven track record of sustainable business results in India, South East Asia and North Asia.
As EVP North Asia and Chairman of Unilever China, he led the transformation of Unilever China into a competitive, profitable and consistent business, now Unilever’s third largest business in the world, the statement said.
Later, as chairman of Unilever Philippines, he built the business into one of the top 10 markets globally for Unilever. Rohit’s ability to combine the power of traditional markets with digital technologies and future-proof business models makes him well-positioned to lead HUL into its next phase of growth.
Commenting on the development, HUL Chairman Nitin Pranjape said, “I am delighted to welcome Rohit back to India. He has a deep understanding of the business landscape, particularly in Asia, and has led the transformation of Unilever’s business in China and the Philippines.
“I am confident that Java, with his business acumen and growth mindset, will take HUL to the next level.” Sanjiv Mehta (62), took over as MD and CEO of HUL in October 2013.
During his ten years at the helm, the business crossed the Rs 50,000 crore turnover mark and the company’s market capitalization more than quadrupled from $17 billion to $75 billion, cementing HUL as one of India’s most valuable businesses, the company said.
He was an advocate of long-term value creation based on growth, high performance anatomy and exceptional capabilities and introduced several transformational business programs such as ‘Dial the Big Q’ and ‘Win More India’ to transform businesses into customers. centralized, agile and flexible.
To make the business future-proof, Sanjiv Mehta has launched an agenda to ‘Reinvent HUL’ by leveraging data, leveraging the latest technologies and designing business models to redefine how HUL interacts with customers, consumers and the way the business operates.
He was also instrumental in executing several strategic mergers and acquisitions at HUL, including the merger of GSK Consumer Healthcare into HUL, one of the largest mergers in the history of FMCG in the country.
In addition, he has actively supported the diversity agenda, making HUL an even more inclusive organization, the company said.
Nitin Paranjpe said Sanjiv Mehta has been an integral part of Unilever’s Leadership Executive and led the growth agenda for South Asia as the Market Cluster President.
Hindustan Unilever Led (HUL) is India’s largest fast moving consumer goods company, for the financial year ended March 31, 2022, Rin, Surf Excel, Dove etc.
Sanjiv Mehta also served as the president of the industry body FICCI.
In addition, the HUL board announced the appointment of Ranjay Gulati as an independent director of the company for a period of five consecutive years from April 1, 2023.
Ranjay Gulati has a deep understanding of business strategy and is currently a professor at Harvard Business School, HUL said in a statement.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published on a syndicated channel.)
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